This invention relates to winch bars and more particularly to a winch bar adapted for use with ratchet binders in winding and tightening straps for securing loads on flat bed trailers.
Tie down straps are conventionally used for securing cargoes on flat bed truck trailers and the like. Each strap has two ends, with a first end being securable to one side of the trailer, using an anchor ring or the like secured to the truck deck. The second end of the strap is connected to a ratchet binder or ratcheting winch which is tightened to secure each strap over the load. Each winch conventionally includes a ratchet mechanism and a winding drum. The second end of each strap is thus fitted into a slot on the winding drum so that the strap may be wound up or tightened as desired. As the strap is tightened, it is held in position by the ratchet mechanism. Conventionally, the tightening of tie down straps has been accomplished using hollow pipes or similar articles while the winding of the tie down straps has been performed manually. These methods have been proven time consuming and unreliable for quick and efficient winding and tightening of tie straps.
Previous devices related to winch bars and other similar tools are described, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,607,974 to Brothers et al.; 4,784,369 to Bock; 4,873,742 to Dillon; 5,301,389 to Engel et al.; 5,425,154 to Edwards, Jr.; 5,433,565 to Chan; and 5,433,127 to Messier. None of these devices shows a winch bar adapted at one end for rapidly winding a truck bed strap and adapted at the other end for tightening a truck bed strap once it has been secured over a cargo load in accordance with the features of the present invention.
It is thus one object of the present invention to provide an improved winch bar which may be used to quickly wind tie down straps on conventional ratcheting winches as well as to tighten the straps over a given load.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved winch bar having two ends adapted to securely engage a conventional ratcheting winch and further having a handle to assist in winding as well as tightening tie down straps secured to the winch.
By the present invention, there is provided a winch bar having one end adapted for use in winding a strap secured to a winch on a truck bed trailer, for example, and a second end adapted for use in tightening the strap. The first end extends from a central portion of the winch bar and has a generally hooked shape for engaging portions of the winch for winding. The second end extends at an angle to the central portion for engaging portions of the winch for tightening. The winch bar central portion is also provided with a handle member to assist in the winding and tightening of the straps.